Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 30-06 bullets for Pa. woods deer ?

Kentucky and West Virginia woods ,for over 20 years ,165 gr. Nosler partition ,and 57 gr IMR4350 ,works like a charm, most just bang and flop were they are ,a few run , up to 30 to 40 yards and drop

I used 150’grain Partition’s for a long time. The 165’s would be awesome in the woods.

Agreed. Add NYS as well.

As a kid first getting interested in hunting that was ll I thought was available for the 06. Literally every guy in my dads camp used them,

Dittos on NY State hunters choosing Remington ammo with round nose bullets. 30-06, 308, 270, whatever. That's all I ever saw when I hunted the Catskills with locals.

Back when I was using a .30-06 and .308 for my deer hunting, I knew how well that 180 Core-Lokt had been working on deer and tried to simulate it with something a little lighter when I was shooting a handloaded bullet through dry phone books tied together. A 165 grain Speer came close, but was no better. Then back in those days I tested the round nose Core-Lokt against pointed 180 grain Core-Lokt factory ammunition. The round nose was punching a thumb size larger opening through the first phone book that the pointed Core-Lokt didn't resemble until the third phone book exit. I forget how many more books the pointed Core-Lokt went through than the round nose, but it was at least several.

In a chart that Handloader Magazine published some years ago testing around 30 different 180 grain bullets side by side through wet paper medium I think they used. The round nose Core-Lokt was nearly the only one that mushroomed perfectly without losing it's lead core from 3,000. fps all the way down to 1,700 fps. Penetration through the medium went up when velocity went down as the mushroomed bullet's diameter was reduced. I ordered that chart from the author and commended him on all the extensive testing that he had done.

Dude, as they say in Texas, it don't make much difference. I personally wouldn't go with a bullet lighter than 150, but with an 06 for deer it just don't make much difference. I even know people that use 130 grains in them. But like I said, it don't make any difference. The .30-06 is a killer of deer extraodinaire. My personal favorite load is a 200 Grain SGK over 56 grains of IMR 4831 at about 2550-2600 depending on the day. But anything between 150 and 220 will do it especially in the woods.

I was hoping this would have kinda shifted over to hunting stories with what bullets were used in the old days, to now.
If you read on the first page, it was brought up about the reason I was asking, and talked about hunting with my life long buddy.
I have many rifles that I can point at a whitetail.
I went with the 06, and was hoping to here good stories on 180gr rn bullets, and wearing red plaid, the Bennets, etc.
It's all good.
180gr Nosler partitions are next on the loading bench.

To please you Splattermatic. I grew up in SW PA in the 50's. I had my own Woolrich red plaid suit. Coat and back then you could get either bibs or pants. I had the pants and wore those 5 buckle artics with felt packs that hard hard soles.Before I had saved enough money, I wore an old army wool coat that my mother had sewed red cloth to the front and back.My folks have passed on and my brother, now 80, lives in their house, but I bet that old Woolrich suit is still hanging down in the basement

First year I used a single shot .410, 2&1/2 " loaded with ball.That was in1955. Rifled slugs weren't invented yet and everyone called them punkin balls. The next year my uncle loaned me 32-20 Remington pump,the I graduated to an H&R single shot 20 gauge. Firs time I touched that of with a punkin ball I thought I lost my shoulder.My whole family hunted, but my sisters never kept up with it.My father killed many whitetail with a Marlin 94 in 38-40.My mother used a 1936 Winchester 94 in 30-30 .She quit hunting to stay with the girls and my brother used that 30-30.Later years, when I was first married, I used my FIL's .348 Winchester lever action Forget what model it was.

This was back when a person could lease plot from the state for 99 years for just a few dollars and the family had camp up in central PA.The state reneged on that lease after many years. Curtis Wright came in and cleared all the camps and put a jet engine test facility in.

Damn saddlesore you lived my early life too, complete with the first year hunt with .410 single shot and pumkin balls. I never had the red plaid coat because we could not afford that luxury but did have a red "Ted Willaims" model hunting coat purchased from Sears, but the first year or two mom used safety pins to attach big red patches on my and my brothers old winter coats.

Those were the good old days of 30-30 Winchesters and sportorized .303 infield rifles.

40 years ago that might have been true. Not anymore. In fact you'd have a bitch of a time even finding any of that ammo for sale in any upstate NY gun shop today, including the Catskills. I've lived in NY my whole life and deer hunted here since the 70's. I know alot of guys who hunt with 06's, .308's and 270's and none use round nose bullets today..

Yup. I don't know anybody anymore who uses round nose bullets in their 30-06 here in PA.

Thanks saddlesore,
Punkin balls, aka foster slugs were very popular in Allegheny county especially, even into recent years.
Even knew some old guys who would score a shot shell around the hull, so there were 2 little "tabs" left opposing each other, so when fired, would act like a punkin ball.

Anyways, things have gone modern, and alot of things have changed.
We all shoot what we want, so best of luck to all in their hunting forays, wherever they may be.

[quote=moosemike
Yup. I don't know anybody anymore who uses round nose bullets in their 30-06 here in PA.[/quote]

Every year. I meet nonresident elk hunters here from MN, WI, and PA. Most are carrying a Remington pump or semi rifle in either 30-0 6 or 35 Whelen. A whole lot of them are using 220 gr RN in their .06.They tell me that is what they use for deer.Most of these guys are older though.Younger guys use the super duper shoulder throbbing magums. I use 220gr RN for elk if I know I will be shooting close

It's called a "cut shell". It was mostly a 410 thing because slugs were harder to find.

Every year. I meet nonresident elk hunters here from MN, WI, and PA. Most are carrying a Remington pump or semi rifle in either 30-0 6 or 35 Whelen. A whole lot of them are using 220 gr RN in their .06.They tell me that is what they use for deer.Most of these guys are older though.Younger guys use the super duper shoulder throbbing magums. I use 220gr RN for elk if I know I will be shooting close
[/quote]

Somewhere back around 1992 I went into my LGS and asked for a box of Remington Aught-Six 220's. The shop owner loudly exclaimed "220 GRAINS! WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM FOR?" To which i answered " for bear."
He then said he used to have three boxes but he had to give them away because nobody would buy them.

You would like a hunting story? I can tell you about my first black bear kill in Northern Ontario. I guess it was a failure.

Spoiler alert! The bear died.
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Picture it. It was 1979 in northern Ontario. The dim times of hunting. Our methods and knowledge were lacking, hence the widespread use of c&c bullets. It was obvious that the ammunition companies didn't care about us then. Around here, no cartridges were available with premium bullets. We had a choice of three makers as I recall - Win, Rem and CIL.

I had been in the service for about 1 1/2 years, and was home visiting friends and family. A high school buddy and I decided to go bear hunting. Since I couldn't reload at the time, I went to Cdn Tire and bought a box of 180 gr. RNs for my No4 (303 British). They were either CIL KKSPs or Remington CLs, but I suppose it doesn't matter.

I used two cartridges to check my sights, and was good to go...out to about 75 yds or so. This was when I was younger and the world was less complicated than it is today. Folks didn't obsess over whether monos were superior to partitions or cup and core bullets. In fact, I cannot recall anyone ever discussing the merits of one bullet type or another.The arguments were usually about the companies that made them. Whether Rem CL were better or worse then CIL KKSP (Kling Kor Soft Points), etc. But as I said, times were different.

Before success in the field became a money and equipment contest, folks around here bought a box or two of their favourite ammunition at the hardware store and went hunting. I cannot speak for the US, but in northern Ontario, factory cartridges used old timey, c&c bullets. According to the kids and grandkids of the people I grew up with, we lived in blissful ignorance. Apparently, our ammunition was no good. RNs were no good. Cup and core bullets were no good. Lead tips were no good. Fast forward to today: The younger set says if we were smart, we would embrace the new technology and benefit from faster, more humane kills. The only thing that confuses me is that we had a better track record of taking game than our kids do today. It must be that game numbers are dropping catastrophically.

But I digress. I had my 303 and my buddy had a Savage 340 chambered in 30-30. We left his place and headed for a spot we often used as a day camp. It was down a dirt road off of Highway 17. Originally a logging road. We drove on the dirt road for about ten miles in to a decommissioned CN spur line. This was in the days when the trains still had cabooses, and they used slag under wooden ties to support the railroad tracks. If you don't know what slag is, use your google foo. They had not removed the rails or ties from the spur yet. Walking on the ties after a fresh snowfall caused the odd fall, but nothing we couldn't handle.

We walked in 1/2 a mile from where we parked to a place that we used as a day camp. We rested for a few minutes and took off in different directions. This particular area had produced several moose and lots of small game over the years, but we had never hunted bear here.

I loaded five 180 grainers and headed along a game trail that showed bear tracks in the snow. I should say that I was not wearing camoflage and made no effort to be quiet. The fresh snow muffled my footsteps, and I figured that the animals wouldn't hear me. I was dressed warmly in an orange hat and hunting coat with gloves (it was a little below freezing). I had a hot seat clipped to my belt and a canvas ground sheet with some knives rolled up inside slung on my shoulder. I think I had a couple of apples too. I was good for the morning.

I didn't walk far from our day camp. I didn't dope the wind or do anything special. I just followed the game trail for a bit until I found a spot that looked good. I sat down on a fallen tree and looked around. I had a great view of the trail. There weren't too many trees around, and I could see maybe 30 or 40 yards in all directions. There were some large rocks that I could have used to lean against, but I opted for the warmth of a fallen tree. This part of the forest was in what we used to call a boundary area. That is, a mix of coniferous and deciduous trees. I was happy and sat.

I expect that nowadays the cell phones would come out in order to pass the time. Back then, we just sat and let ourselves tune into what was around. I often took short naps. Even today, I have no problems falling asleep, although that is not conducive to good hunting.

After a time, I heard something moving in the bush to my left. I watched but couldn't see anything. This noise went on for about 10 minutes.

I had a cartridge chambered and ready. Given the limited area that I could see, any shots would be close in.

A bear wandered out from behind some alders and stopped. He was not aware that I was even there. I aimed and fired. He went into the bush, but it wasn't a quick run. I heard him making noise for less than a minute. Then silence. The way I figured it, the thing was maybe 75 yd or so away. He wasn't making any sound and I had another cartridge chambered. For me, that was the scary part. Not knowing exactly where he was, and if I had squarely hit him.

Twenty minutes passed and my buddy came in on the trail from the rail line. I told him what happened and approximately where I thought the bear was. Was it a good hit? I thought so, but in the bush it's a bit darker, so it was hard to say. Now that I had my buddy there, we both walked toward where the bear fell. No range finders, so it's only a guess how far away he was from where I was sitting, but I believe that it was less than 100 yd.

I poked him and he didn't move. Barry fetched his truck and drove along the spur line to where I was.
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About this kill:

The bear was cleanly taken with an old timey cup and core 303 British 180 gr. RN. I've really no idea why it worked. I was irresponsible for buying store bought cup and core ammunition to begin with, but I didn't have access to reloading equipment.

The bullet passed through the beast, making a mess of the top of the heart. Whether its core separated, or how much weight there was after expanding and passing through the bear, is unknown. Because I never found the bullet, I never knew if the bullet failed.

There was a considerable amount of blood inside the bear.

I suppose, given that it was a bear, I should have used another cartridge - a 30-06 perhaps - topped with a Nosler Partition. That would have made a better kill...but I'm not sure because I never recovered the bullet.

The mistakes of youth.

OMG it's a wonder you lived Mr. Redgewell ! Trudging off into the wild with such gay abandon, no premium bullets, no alpha glass, no GPS, no rangefinder, no rehydration system ! You'd surely have gotten lost, starved to death, died of thirst or got et by a bear after your bullets failed if not for divine intervention ! Just count your lucky stars is all I can say.

So glad you survived, or else we would have never read this story.
I too bought store bought shells for my 7x64, as my reloading stuff wasn't up and loading yet, due to etsing, and moving back state side.
It was a box of Norma 154gr soft points iirc.
Needless to say, they shot well, a bear came to the bait, a round hit its front right shoulder, and went completely through it lengthwise, to exit.
Only thing hi tech was the duct tape wrapped around the clothes at entry point, to keep the biting bugs out, and around the head net, collar joint.

Not the ‘06 but in the 70’s when I started hunting in PA I began with a Remington 700 ADL in .270 and all the older family members and friends used roundnose bullets of various makes but the Core-lokts were the “ticket”. I used the 150 grain variety in my .270 and killed several deer with them and never had anything but good results - when I did my part. After we all got educated and realized we couldn’t kill a deer with roundnosed bullets I gravitated to the spitzers and/or boat tail spitzers. Seeing the same thing happening with the new Uber spitzers with phenomenal BCs......for the woods or really anything under 250 or so roundnoses still work fine and many times shoot much better in my rifles. Still have several boxes of Remington roundnose ammo and components and use them in several different rifles - they still work just as they did back then😊

PennDog

Since you included "the west and all manners of game", I'd suggest 180gr Nosler Accubond or Partition.

That will handle anything that happens to fall under your crosshairs.